9 Serious Symptoms Of Dengue Fever In Infants/Babies

We all are, to some extent, scared of Dengue. If you are a parent, doubtless you may be worried whether your child may get infected by the dengue fever.

Approximately 100 million cases of dengue fever are estimated every year worldwide. In this article, we will give you an overview of dengue symptoms in babies and suggestions to prevent it from entering your household.

What Is Dengue?

Dengue (pronounced as den-gee) is a painful and draining mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus. It causes high fever, headaches, pain throughout the body and rashes. Dengue is more common in tropical areas.

Some regions most affected by dengue are:

Southeast Asia

The Indian Subcontinent

Taiwan

Southern China

The Pacific Islands

Mexico

Africa

Some Parts of The Caribbean

Central and Southern America

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Most part of United States is not prone to Dengue. However, people who are travelling to tropical locations should be well prepared for any such infections. Some part of southern United States and Texas-Mexico do report presence of dengue virus.

Dengue Fever Symptoms In Babies:

Earlier, dengue fever was called, “breakbone fever”, which can give you an idea of the type of symptoms it can cause. Though it doesn’t mean that the fever is breaking bones, it can give you such a feeling.

Dengue fever appears around 4 to 6 days after the body is infected by the virus. The fever lasts for around 10 days. Following are some symptoms of dengue fever in babies:

Sudden high fever

Pain behind eyes

Severe headache

Nausea

Vomiting

Excess of body pain, especially around joints and muscle areas

Rashes on skin, which generally appears a couple of days after fever

Mild nose bleeds

Bleeding gums

At times, symptoms of dengue in babies are not prominent and therefore dengue fever is confused with other viral infections. Such confusions happens more in babies.

In rare cases, dengue fever can be present in more serious form, known as Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). It is a life threatening condition. Babies with Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) will suffer from the regular dengue symptoms for about 2 to 7 days. Once the fever eases, the other symptoms get worse and can lead to more serious signs like:

Severe bleeding

Gastrointestinal problems that include abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting

Respiratory problems like breathing difficulty

If DHF is not treated, the signs may go even bad including:

Heavy bleeding

Dehydration

Rapid drop in blood pressure

Organ failure

Risk of dying, but very low

Symptoms are usually mild in young children and in those affected for the first time. Older children, adults, and those who are already affected previously will have moderate to severe symptoms.

What To Do If Your Baby Show Symptoms Of Dengue?

If you see rashes on your baby’s skin and she has fever, you should be on guard. Along with these two signs, if your child is also complaining of body pain, it is best to contact your physician.

As of today, there is no specific cure for dengue fever. Your doctor will prescribe you medicines to counter the symptoms and fever, which will help in curing dengue.

Do not give your child any anti-inflammatory pill as this could affect your baby’s blood platelets.

Take her to the hospital, so that treatment can be offered as soon as possible.

Diagnosis Of Dengue In Babies:

Most health care providers suggest getting a blood test done to check for dengue virus. But many of the specialists can identify the fever just from the appearance of the baby.

The health care provider may question you about the symptoms and exposure to mosquitoes of your baby and more. A complete blood picture is also taken to identify the severity of infection since the blood platelets will be badly affected.

Treatment For Dengue In Babies:

There are no specific medicines to treat dengue quickly. If the severe form of the disease is detected, then hospitalization is required. Blood pressure and blood counts of your baby will be regularly monitored. Also, the blood test will be regularly performed.

In the case of severe dengue fever, doctors will inject intravenous fluids and electrolytic salts to replace the lost fluids through diarrhea or vomiting. This works effectively when the treatment begins early. But in advanced cases, doctors will perform a blood transfusion to replace the lost blood.

Prevention From Dengue:

Dengue is a severe infection; the good news is, it can be controlled with currently available preventive measures. If you keep a tab of things, you will be able to keep you and your baby away from this infection.